Presently available methods for cooking pasta and other foods primarily rely on standard practices which are well known in the art. For example, the cooking of pasta, vegetables and other foods using boiling water containing concentrations of sodium chloride (common table salt) which are added to the cooking water is centuries old.
A number of recent methods for reducing cooking time without detracting from the resulting organoleptic qualities of the cooked food have been developed. For example, presently available instant or quick cooking pasta and noodles (pasta products) and other foods are associated with inferior organoleptic qualities. Most of these products are made by extrusion cooking or cooking subsequent to extrusion by immersion in boiling water and/or steam cooking. Extrusion cooking, however, results in deterioration of the pasta texture due to the impact of heat and high shear on the protein matrix prior to and during extrusion. When these products are rehydrated, the texture is mushy or soft, not “al dente”, resulting in unfavorable organoleptic qualities. The extrusion cooking process also is costly, requiring sophisticated equipment and control systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,251,694 describes a pre-cooked macaroni wherein the dough is made in a conventional manner and the fresh pasta is completely pre-cooked and dried at 300-700.degree. F. for about 3 to 9 minutes. The product, however, is expensive because of high processing costs and is limited to pasta shapes that can be extruded with thin walls and still maintain their shape.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,677, a rapid cooking pasta is made by extruding the dough and drying to a moisture content of less than 12% either with humidified air for 12-48 hours or at a temperature from about 150-300.degree. F. for about 5-120 minutes to at least partially gelatinize the starch. Corn flour and soy flour are viewed as being critical ingredients. The specification provides that for high temperature drying the gelatinization of the starch can be effected prior to, during, or after extrusion and that gelatinization should be at least about 10%, with best results at about 10-75%. The product, however, has poor organoleptic qualities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,210 describes instant-cooking dry macaroni and similar dry foods which contain quantities of wheat flour wherein at least 85% of the starch in the product is converted to the α-phase. The products are said to avoid the prior problems associated with mutual sticking as well as deformation of the pieces of pasta.
Several other patents describe pasta products which can be rehydrated quickly but they require complete pre-cooking during the manufacturing process. These include U.S. Pat. No. 2,704,723 wherein the fresh pasta is immersed in boiling water before drying, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,044,165, 4,394,397 and 4,540,592 wherein combinations of heat and mechanical stress are used during extrusion processes to fully pre-cook the pasta products. All of these products suffer from poor organoleptic qualities.
A method of coating pasta for providing a firm texture is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,727. The coating composition is a dried coagulated egg white and an edible oil.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,575 describe a method to prevent starch retrogradation in pasta products using propylene glycol alginate and salt.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,146,682 and 6,106,882 describe a method of drying freshly extruded pasta by toasting (i.e. using heated ambient air without added moisture) pasta under controlled conditions to prepare a product having excellent appearance and texture with superior cooked yield and short cook times.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,407 to Lewis, et al. describes dehydrated vegetable pieces containing a mixture of sodium chloride and an alkali metal carboxylate. The vegetables are said to have favorable organoleptic qualities after quick cooking.